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Chancellor J. Keith Motley presented UMass Boston student Eva Leibbrandt with a $5,000 Krystle Campbell Scholarship on Monday at a campus event celebrating the Boston Marathon and honoring Campbell, a former UMass Boston student who was a victim of the 2013 marathon bombings.

Charmagne Loyola, a UMass Dartmouth student, also received a scholarship.

The Krystle Campbell Scholarship is presented to young women who, like Krystle, are pursuing careers in business. Campbell attended UMass Boston from 2005 to 2007 and received a degree posthumously.

Leibbrandt, a management major, never met Campbell, but she spoke to a mutual friend and learned she was an “incredibly caring, nice, thoughtful, supportive individual, and I know she would’ve done such amazing things with her life.”

“I feel really connected to her,” said Leibbrandt, who has met Campbell’s family. “This scholarship also motivates me to push even harder to set new goals for my life and do what I truly believe in.”

Loyola, a marketing major, said the award is an opportunity to continue Campbell’s legacy “by pursuing a life of learning for the both of us.”

“I genuinely do value the opportunity I’ve been given because I believe in what Krystle stood for—a life of learning and passion,” she said.

The Krystle Campbell Scholarship Fund was established in 2013 by Richard Campbell, a UMass trustee and UMass Boston alumnus. Campbell is not related to Krystle, but like her, grew up in Medford and attended UMass Boston.

The scholarships are funded in part by the Run for Krystle marathon team, which ran its first Boston Marathon in 2014. The 15 runners on this year’s team, many of them UMass students, alumni, and staff, have raised more than $70,000.

In total, the scholarship fund is more than halfway to its $1 million goal.

Bill Campbell, nephew of Richard Campbell and a member of the Run for Krystle team, said Monday’s event was a reminder of why they’ve endured a grueling training regimen in recent months.

“This is the reason we signed up six months ago,” Campbell said. “Today is the day that we get to pay it forward. … In our own small way, we have taken a tragic event and created something special that will live on forever.”

Motley said, “I have no doubt that Krystle would be especially pleased to know that a scholarship in her name will perpetuate her caring and generous nature as it supports students at her alma mater.”

Mary Creedon O’Brien, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UMass Boston, delivered a keynote address partially focused on her inspiring journey from administrative assistant at Saucony to her current position as the brand’s vice president of global marketing.